We purchased two Jersey cows in milk a little over a week ago. We’ve been milking twice a day for 9 days. This morning when straining the milk we noticed a lot of tiny (pen tip size) white curds on the cheesecloth. This evening there was far less specks but still there. We thought possibly mastitis but both cows look fine. No redness, not hot to touch, no swelling, acting completely normal and eating fine. My husband saw something about acidity levels and possible curdling reactions from the pH. Anyone have this happen before? Picture attached. Thanks!
Jersey milk issue
- Thread starter krumpefam
- Start date
MurraysMutts
Well-known member
I bet @farmerjan knows
The white specks turn into a buttery oil when squeezed- someone answered on Facebook and said butterfat if it dissolves between your fingers. So I hope that is what it is. I just don’t know why it would show up now and not prior to this.
MurraysMutts
Well-known member
Perhaps u let the milk sit a bit longer before straining this go round??
That would make perfect sense if that's what happened!
farmerjan
Well-known member
Hi. Welcome to Cattle Today.
Couple of questions... how long in milk are these cows? Especially the one that you found these white little globules?
I have a feeling that you may be milking them out more thoroughly and this is actually some of the "butterfat" that is in the udder... and it is working it's way down ... I have seen it on occasion and usually it just disappears... AND.... sometimes see this more often with temp swings and the cow's metabolism reacting to it...
However... I would keep a close eye on it, as it could be an indication of staph/strep in their system... could be a low grade persistent thing that they will have this off and on all the time... never developing into "actual mastitis"....
But, if she were mine, I would just check on it daily and it may very well just stop and that will be it. If the milk smells and tastes okay, I would use it... if you are hesitant.. use it in cooking for a bit.
It also could be that she has eaten something out in the pasture with the "spring time" greening up... sometimes the composition of the milk will change with a change of diet... and you may never know what it is..
Jersey cream/butterfat is WHITE.... so I really suspect that is what it is.
Make sure that you strain the milk and chill it as fast as possible... putting qt jars, or 1/2 gallons, in the freezer for 1/2-1 hour or more will chill it faster than in a gallon jar in the fridge.... Ice water bath will chill it quick... like when you put drinks in a tub of ice at a party or something...
Are there any dairies closeby that you are friends with? That are on DHIA milk testing??? Or Dairy One???? I have a retired farmer that is friends with another dairyman... and he sends a milk sample in, from his "family cows" with their herd to be tested for the standard things...
I can talk about this more with you if there is that possibility.... and he pays for the milk samples to be tested. Costs about $5 each... and he does it as the herd is normally tested monthly or every other month...
The state lab here in Va will also run samples and they cost more but will also pinpoint the type of bacteria etc.... Since PA is a state that allows raw milk sales... I think they might have some available testing at the state labs but I don't know.
"REAL MILK.com" and FTCLDF (farm to consumer legal defense fund) are good sites to check out if you are going to milk share or sell any milk to even a neighbor... Look up the Weston A Price foundation... lots of information on raw milk and things associated with it.
Couple of questions... how long in milk are these cows? Especially the one that you found these white little globules?
I have a feeling that you may be milking them out more thoroughly and this is actually some of the "butterfat" that is in the udder... and it is working it's way down ... I have seen it on occasion and usually it just disappears... AND.... sometimes see this more often with temp swings and the cow's metabolism reacting to it...
However... I would keep a close eye on it, as it could be an indication of staph/strep in their system... could be a low grade persistent thing that they will have this off and on all the time... never developing into "actual mastitis"....
But, if she were mine, I would just check on it daily and it may very well just stop and that will be it. If the milk smells and tastes okay, I would use it... if you are hesitant.. use it in cooking for a bit.
It also could be that she has eaten something out in the pasture with the "spring time" greening up... sometimes the composition of the milk will change with a change of diet... and you may never know what it is..
Jersey cream/butterfat is WHITE.... so I really suspect that is what it is.
Make sure that you strain the milk and chill it as fast as possible... putting qt jars, or 1/2 gallons, in the freezer for 1/2-1 hour or more will chill it faster than in a gallon jar in the fridge.... Ice water bath will chill it quick... like when you put drinks in a tub of ice at a party or something...
Are there any dairies closeby that you are friends with? That are on DHIA milk testing??? Or Dairy One???? I have a retired farmer that is friends with another dairyman... and he sends a milk sample in, from his "family cows" with their herd to be tested for the standard things...
I can talk about this more with you if there is that possibility.... and he pays for the milk samples to be tested. Costs about $5 each... and he does it as the herd is normally tested monthly or every other month...
The state lab here in Va will also run samples and they cost more but will also pinpoint the type of bacteria etc.... Since PA is a state that allows raw milk sales... I think they might have some available testing at the state labs but I don't know.
"REAL MILK.com" and FTCLDF (farm to consumer legal defense fund) are good sites to check out if you are going to milk share or sell any milk to even a neighbor... Look up the Weston A Price foundation... lots of information on raw milk and things associated with it.
No we strain and bottle within 10 minutes of milking so that wouldn’t be it. The other person asked if it was cold here but it’s not…60’s and rainy so I’m stumped.
Thank you for replying!
The cows are supposedly 4&3 (however the 4 yr old has a very low body score which we’re trying to figure out how to help her and my husband swears she is way older but we don’t know) the “4 yr old” had a heifer calf in December and the 3 yr old had a bull calf in early January. We bought all 4. The previous owners didn’t milk them so they just had their calves on. We milk twice a day 630a and 630p. Pull calves overnight and let them together for a couple hours then pull till after evening feed then let them around for a couple hours before bed. We’re giving calves calf starter. We have the cows on pasture&hay free choice, sweet feed/commodity mix 1 scoop each during milking time - they were on soaked alfalfa cubes during milking for a few day and got runny diarrhea so we talked to our cattle farmer friends and they said to take them off alfalfa- we did and it is getting better. Milk never had anything in it until this morning and it’s not just one it’s both of them which is why we started researching things other than mastitis. The white specks dissolve between your fingers and then it’s oily. Milk smells normal and tastes as good as always.
I looked into testing and was going to call dairy one and ask how we could get set up because we just registered with the usda in our area and plan on getting a lot more Jersey cows in the future. There’s not anyone around our area that has jerseys but there is a Holstein dairy about 20 min from us so I’m sure we could ask them.
Do you have any ideas for putting weight on jerseys?
suzorse
Well-known member
are the cows Bangs vaccinated ? as you can look in the right ear for the tattoo, it will be an R a shield and the year they were vaccinated to give an idea of age , with them not being milked before you got them it may just be some residuals flecks , that will clear with regular milking , if you can get Alfalfa hay I would give some of that , and a rule of thumb for how much grain to give is 3lbs of grain for every gal of milk produced ,
TexasJerseyMilker
Well-known member
Hi krumpfan and welcome to this forum. Please check your messages. Its the little envelope next the bell at the upper right. 
farmerjan
Well-known member
If the cows only had their calves on them, then I would definitely think this is residual milk fat working it's way down through the udder and will resolve its self in fairly fast order. Nothing to panic over in my opinion.
The swing in temps may well have something to do with it also... and if you are milk sharing with these calves, the cows might be "holding " their milk which will result in the fat "balls" also.
The swing in temps may well have something to do with it also... and if you are milk sharing with these calves, the cows might be "holding " their milk which will result in the fat "balls" also.
